The Uncanny Dr Reid
by MoonlightBreeze7
Summary: Written as an addition to S5: E13, 'The Uncanny Valley'. Reid connects with the unsub Samantha a little too well. Just a little drabble about Reid's past, Rossi's reaction to said past, and Reid being a wonderful human being. Lots of Reid angst and just generally tear-evoking content. Rated T to be safe.


Rossi was a bit surprised to see Reid handle Samantha so gently. It had not been a team decision to let him initiate contact before storming the place; Reid had gone to Hotch, asking, or more like pleading, to go in first, without mentioning his plan to the rest of the team. Though thoroughly confused, Hotch agreed with the young man and allowed him to breach Samantha's house before SWAT and medical were called in.

"Well done, Reid," Rossi complimented him. He was concerned, however, when Reid barely responded. A distracted 'Thanks' was the only thing that the younger agent offered him. Rossi's brow furrowed. He was perplexed. Every member of the team had cases that got to them more than the rest, but there was usually a reason behind it. He couldn't think of a single reason for Reid to be acting the way he was acting. It seemed almost...personal.

Rossi shuddered at the idea, but couldn't seem to push it from his mind. After all, it did make sense.

After they filed outside, Rossi cornered the boy genius, never one for holding his tongue. "Reid? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Rossi," Reid answered, all in one breath.

"That's bull, kid," Rossi replied. "What's going on with you?"

The younger agent sighed. "I don't really want to tell you. You've probably figured it out already, haven't you?"

"I have my suspicions," the senior profiler replied, still hesitant, "but I could be way off."

"You're not," Reid said quietly.

"Your father, he did something to you?"

Reid winced at the mention of his father. "Yes," he replied simply.

"What happened?" Rossi asked. He felt bad for prying, but he wanted to know. The kid had to tell somebody if it was eating him up like that.

"I got too old for him," Reid admitted. "That's the real reason he left. My mother was part of it, of course, but I wasn't good anymore. There was nothing left for him."

Rossi fell silent. For once, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Reid continued, "When he d-did it, the only thing that kept me sane was reciting my favourite books, word for word, in my head." He chuckled darkly. "Having an eidetic memory comes in handy sometimes." The young profiler looked over at Samantha, who was being led away in handcuffs, holding onto the suitcase with her dolls inside as though her life depended on it - and in a way, it did.

"You get it," Rossi realised. "You understand her."

Reid laughed shortly, a dark, humourless sound. He met Rossi's eyes for a brief moment, and his were haunted. Rossi knew that the image of Reid's eyes at that moment would surely be joining his thousands collected from different cases that kept him up at night.

Reid smiled slightly at the older profiler. "Just a bit."

"Guys, let's go!" Hotch yelled from the SUV. They began to walk towards it, but Rossi stopped just before Reid opened his door and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Spencer, I'm so sorry."

Reid smiled, a real, genuine smile that time. "Thanks, Dave."

When the team arrived at the police station, they found it in complete disarray. Samantha was in a state, screaming and crying and attacking anyone that dared approach her. Rossi held his distance, analysing the situation in order to decide how best to contain the distraught woman. Reid, however, had no such inhibitions. He strode over to Samantha, who was now on the floor, sobbing and wailing, and sat in front of her, criss-cross applesauce. He held his hands out like an offering and spoke to her quietly. Too quietly, in fact, for Rossi's well-trained ears to pick up.

It worked, though; Samantha quieted immediately. Rossi moved closer, desperate to know what Reid had said that calmed her so.

"Can you tell me why you were so upset?" he spoke directly to her, his attention never straying from the woman in front of him.

"H-He took my dolls," Samantha said softly, her eyes filling with tears once again. "Y-You said they c-could go with me!"

"And they will," Reid promised. "I'm sorry he touched them, Samantha. It won't happen again, I promise." Reid looked up at Rossi, meeting his gaze for a split second. Rossi struggled to contain his emotions when he saw the deep grief and empathy that resided in the young man's disturbingly intense hazel eyes.

When he spoke to the senior profiler, however, he was all business. "Could you find the officer that took Samantha's dolls, please, Rossi?" He then turned to Samantha. "Is it okay if this man here touches your friends, Samantha? I promise he'll be super careful with them, and he'll give them back to you really quick."

After a moment's hesitation, Samantha nodded. "O-Okay."

Reid squeezed her hands, which had found their way into his own at some point, reassuringly. "Thank you."

Rossi turned to find the officer that had taken the woman's prized possessions from her. He was prepared to give whoever it was a stern talking-to, but he was surprised to see that the captain himself was the one who had confiscated the toys.

"Why did you take those dolls?" he immediately accused the police chief. "They keep her calm and happy. Don't you want that?"

The chief at least had the grace to look guilty. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't think about it. I just didn't think they'd be allowed in holding."

"Well, you thought wrong," Rossi snapped. "We're the FBI. They'll be permitted." With that, he snatched the suitcase from the captain's hands and began to return to where Samantha and Reid were still sitting.

"Here you are," he said to Samantha, and handed her the suitcase of dolls gingerly. "Safe and sound."

"Thank you!" The look on the woman's face pained Rossi; she looked so happy and zealous that he hadn't the heart to profile her or think about how he would write up her story in his reports that night.

"You're welcome, Samantha."

"Samantha, do you want to go in that room there?" It was Reid who spoke. He was pointing at a small interrogation room alongside the police station's holding cells. "We can be more comfortable and you can play with your dolls all you like."

"Okay!" she agreed immediately.

When they were settled in the small room, Reid rose and said to Samantha, "I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to speak to an officer, and then I'll join you again."

"Okay."

Reid left the interrogation room and Rossi watched as he hunted down the officer responsible for guarding the holding cells and explained Samantha's unique situation. Although he couldn't hear them at this distance, the hardening of Reid's jaw and the flashing of his alabaster eyes suggested that the officer wasn't being very agreeable. He was about to step in and flash his badge, pull rank, when Reid moved closer so he could look the guard, who was considerably larger than he was, in the face. He whispered a few words into the guard's ear. After that, the officer gave Reid no more trouble.

A bit proud of his boy, Rossi continued to tag along like a lost puppy as Reid returned to the interrogation room he'd left Samantha in. The older man waited outside, taking a position at the window so he could hear their conversation.

"Do you have to leave, Spencer?" Samantha asked him. "I want you to stay."

"I'm afraid I do," Reid replied. "But here - " He broke off for a minute to pull a pen and a scrap of paper from the pocket of his button-up shirt. "This is my telephone number, okay? I've talked to the officers here and the staff at the hospital you'll be going to, and you'll be allowed a phone. You can call me anytime you want."

"Really?!" she reached out her hand to take the slip of paper from him. "You mean that?!"

"Of course I do, Samantha," Reid responded instantly. "I like talking to you." He said it in such a genuine, kind voice that a small part of Rossi almost wanted to tear up.

"I like talking to you, too, Spencer," Samantha said happily. He smiled at her, and Rossi felt a little piece of his weathered heart break.

"Wait, h-hospital?" Samantha caught on to the wording of Reid's statement. "W-Will I have to go in the room with the lightning again?!"

"No, no," Reid hastened to assure her. "No, this isn't that kind of hospital. You don't have to go in the room with the lightning ever again, okay? No more of that, ever. I promise."

"Okay," Samantha said hesitantly. "And no Daddy either, right? H-He won't be there?"

"He won't be there," Reid promised her. "He can never hurt you ever again, Samantha. I'll make sure of it."

Personal promises to a victim were completely against bureau rules, but somehow Rossi believed that this was one promise Reid intended on keeping.

"Okay." Samantha let out a sigh of relief. With that, she reached for the suitcase and began to unzip it. Her expression instantly became animated when she saw the three dolls, lying perfectly side-by-side. Her eyes lit up with happiness. Then, her expression turned to Reid.

"Would you like to play with me, Spencer?"

"I would love to," Reid replied. He moved to sit on the floor near her. He reached for the doll closest to him and asked for her permission before touching it. When Samantha interrupted him to tell him facts about the dolls, he gave her his full attention and listened. When she told him that he was playing with them wrong and taught him how to hold them properly and imitate their voices correctly, Reid took her advice to heart and adjusted his technique to suit the addled woman before him.

Rossi watched, shaking his head in wonder, as, together, the two of them played with Samantha's friends.

For all of Reid's genius, sometimes everyone could forget that he had a big heart, too.

**Author's Note: This is my first Criminal Minds story! I wasn't planning on writing it at all, because I've been feeling low lately and it's made my writing bad, in my opinion. But my muse wasn't having that, so here I am! I hope you like this story. Please leave reviews! I love receiving feedback from my readers. Thank you and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night!**

**~ Em**


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